• The WHO has declared the swine flu outbreak a global pandemic, the first in 41 years. One company who is benefiting is local company Baxter.
• The Supreme Court has turned down Conrad Black's request for release on bail pending his appeal.
• Mayor Daley surfaced long enough today to confirm layoff notices to city workers will be going out tomorrow.

Photo by trippchicago
• Mayor Daley on Blago: "I’ve said, ‘cuckoo’ once. I’ll say it again: ‘Cuckoo.’"
• We remember skipping college classes to stay home to eat popcorn and watch the OJ Simpson verdict. We might have to play hooky again on Monday, when ABC7 will have live coverage of the start of Blago's impeachment trial.
• Chicago police officer William Cozzi has pleaded guilty to the 2005 beating of a 60-year-old man shackled and handcuffed to a wheelchair. So can somebody please fire this asshole now?

Embattled Police Superintendent Jody Weis just can't catch a break. On Friday, Cook County Circuit Judge William Maki upheld the Chicago Police Board's decision to suspend Officer William Cozzi instead of firing him for the 2005 beating of a wheelchaired man was the correct one. The incident took place in August of 2005 at at Norwegian American Hospital in Humboldt Park. Video of the beating shows then-60-year-old Randle Miles handcuffed and shackled to a wheelchair while Cozzi hit him ten times. Miles had been stabbed by a woman earlier in the day and rather than seeking treatment had "downed a bottle of gin" instead. At the insistence of friends, he finally sought treatment at the hospital where he became "agitated" and "abusive," causing hospital staff to summon Cozzi. Miles was charged with resisting arrest, despite video evidence to the contrary, and the charges were later dropped. more ›